Our BEAUTIFUL Niece has been born!

Bella Grace Bossen
arrived just before 11am on 3/29/10
6 pounds, 10 ounces 18.5 inches
...Everyone is well...

Just a few from today, but more pictures to come:

Park Pics

The best idea yet came from the Mom of one of Avery's classmates: WEDNESDAY play group!

Our kids are in class together on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so on Wednesdays we get together in the morning to play at the park. It WORKS so well because the kids already know each other from class, and we get to get outside, tire them out and then take them home for naps! Best part about it? Little sisters can play too! Brilliant.

Just a few pictures from one of our February outings...

Trace, Lilly and Avery try the pole swings...

Julia kept up with the 3-yr-olds like she WAS one; Avery & Jack have a snack...

Avery's Haircut

I gave Avery another trim and then took her to the mirror to show her the new "look." I think she likes what she sees... What do you think? :)

Go fish...

It's craft project time again at the Poages'! ...Not because we felt especially crafty, but more out of pure necessity.

I've been sick for about a week now so I finally broke down and went to see my Internal Medicine Doc. Get this: I have strep throat. STREP! Who gets strep throat when they're 30?! ...apparently I do... and I have a sinus infection as well. But before I actually went to the doctor, I spent several days just not wanting to get out of the house or do anything. So, naturally, when Mommy's on the couch the movies come out!

My girls are officially obsessed with Finding Nemo. Great movie. I think it was the 927th time we watched it when I pulled out the construction paper and an empty plastic container we had around the house and decided we would make our very own Marlin, Nemo & Dory. I felt well enough to try to draw the shapes of the fish I was watching on TV and cut them out, and then Avery happily glued the "stripes" on. She was totally into it. Give that girl a glue stick and she's happy. Julia was napping and missed the whole project but she woke up to some "pet fish" and was immediately attached.

A tip for any other Moms out there reading this: Make fake pets!! They love them! And you don't have to feed them or take them outside... it's the best.

Bye-bye 20's...

Wow. Thirty.

Sounds so refined. Thirty used to sound "old" to me... you know, back when I was a teenager... But then when I hit my twenties, 30 just sounded like a respectable "grown-up" age. The age of a person who could be categorized as independent. Established. Self-controlled. Dignified. Someone who has it all together.

I can't be thirty...

Independent? I'm still afraid of the dark.
Established? Not even sure what that really means.
Self-controlled? HA! ...I sneak hands-full of M&M's behind my kids' backs on a regular basis...
Dignified? Not in the least. ...I totally dance in my kitchen when I'm making the kids' lunches or doing the dishes... Hey, it's the only hardwood flooring in our house and it's fun to slide on! Avery hates it and actually rolls her eyes. Julia usually be-bops along. She totally gets me.
Someone who has it all together? I'm altogether NUTS on most days and I can't tell you the last time I felt organized.

But I'm 30. I am. And I love my life... I love my chaotic, crazy, raising-two-preschoolers-and-usually-covered-in-peanut-butter life. I love entering a new decade with Collin and looking back at pictures of us just starting to date when I was 19 and he was 21. ...and I love that he'll always be older!... I have much to be thankful for and a LOT to learn. Maybe I'll know it all by the time I'm 40! ;)

Drew & Bella Grace

It's about time for a Bossen update on this blog, right? We've gotten to hang out with Jen, Andrew and Drew pretty frequently over the past few months, and I LOVE having them so close by. I think it surprises people how often we travel to Sherman and they come to Dallas, but it's literally a 50 or 60 minute drive. (Sometimes it takes me that long to get to Frisco!) So, yes... We visit often. I'm addicted. I love the Bossens and I LOVE Sherman. The ones who are really burning up the roads are Mom & Dad! They just need to move here. ...or invent teleportation... But I digress...

Drew is TWO! I can't believe it... He had an incredibly fun 2nd Birthday party at the University of Gymnastics, and the girls LoVeD it. Who wouldn't love running on a trampoline, hanging from the rings, trying out the uneven bars and playing with a parachute on the floor?! Throw in some balloons and a giant cookie cake and you've got preschooler heaven.






And sweet Bella Grace (who is set to arrive in just over FOUR weeks!) had a beautiful baby shower on February 13th. Jennifer is doing the nursery in black, white and apple green... and it's absolutely beautiful! The shower was decorated like the nursery will be... Isn't it pretty?! And it was SO much fun to watch Jennifer open PINK presents!! :) We can't wait to meet you, sweet Bella! We love you already. And, Jen... I can't believe how gracefully you carry. You look BEAUTIFUL.





...and then we went back to their house to find a very playful Drew... Gotta love this precious boy...